If it were me I'd change 50% of the water, top it up with conditioned water then straight away do a 50% change, top it up again let it all settle then re-test the water. Because you have fish in there you need to get the nitrites down. Also you dont want the temperature in your tank to crash, or do you add water of a similar temp to tank?

Prime is sold in nearly all aquatic sections and it will bind ammonia and nitrites and make them non toxic.

Thanks beast. That's along the line I was thinking.. About how long would an AC take on average to grow 3"?

Lynxx, thank u as well. I know the nitrite is too high, hence the frequent water changes. When you say back tp back changes do u mean one right after the other (ex: drain 3 gallons, add 3 gallons, then drain 3 and add another 3, so 6 total gallons broken up by a refill in between?) or do you mean 2 consecutive days of 50% wc or more?

Is Prime sold at chain pet stores like Petco?

I'd do 6 or 7 gallon water changes back to back (one right after another) and yes prime is sold at Petco.

I'm not sure about your question about the AC's growth rate. Someone else will have to answer that one

In regards to the filter, you can clean the media by swishing it gently in tank water. That allows u to keep the BB. You don t replace it until it falls apart unless you re also using Polyfill , which can just be tossed & replaced as long as you have other filter media in there .

So I haven't changed the water in my tank now in almost a week after being told by 2 different LFS (one chain and one aquarium only store) that I should be leaving the tank alone during the cycle process unless fish are dying..

Sounds harsh to me but I figure they must know what they are talking about..

SO.. like I said, been about a week now and just last night the Guppy wasn't looking good (floating around near the top, getting tossed around by the filter, etc.) I didn't even think the little guy would make it to morning but when i had my wife check this morning, the little guy is still clinging to life. I checked my water last night, ammonia is around .25, nitrites are through the roof, and nitrates are around 30 PPM or so..

I'm assuming its the high nitrite level that is harming my guppy. If the little guy is still hanging in there when I get home from work, I plan on doing a 50% WC (or possibly a back to back change like previously mentioned) in hopes that it can pull through..

At this point, I don't know what to believe as far as cycling the tank.. There are so many different opinions out there that I am just beyond confused and kind of using my judgement..

Even though the guppy isn't looking too good, the ACs are looking happy and healthy..

Also on a positive note, I think I found out that these AC that I got are a species of "shell-dwellers" so I might be okay with the 10 gal tank for longer than I expected. Just going to change the substrate over to sand and get some shells for them to swim in and out of after I'm finally cycled.

So I haven't changed the water in my tank now in almost a week after being told by 2 different LFS (one chain and one aquarium only store) that I should be leaving the tank alone during the cycle process unless fish are dying..

Sounds harsh to me but I figure they must know what they are talking about..

SO.. like I said, been about a week now and just last night the Guppy wasn't looking good (floating around near the top, getting tossed around by the filter, etc.) I didn't even think the little guy would make it to morning but when i had my wife check this morning, the little guy is still clinging to life. I checked my water last night, ammonia is around .25, nitrites are through the roof, and nitrates are around 30 PPM or so..

I'm assuming its the high nitrite level that is harming my guppy. If the little guy is still hanging in there when I get home from work, I plan on doing a 50% WC (or possibly a back to back change like previously mentioned) in hopes that it can pull through..

At this point, I don't know what to believe as far as cycling the tank.. There are so many different opinions out there that I am just beyond confused and kind of using my judgement..

Even though the guppy isn't looking too good, the ACs are looking happy and healthy..

Also on a positive note, I think I found out that these AC that I got are a species of "shell-dwellers" so I might be okay with the 10 gal tank for longer than I expected. Just going to change the substrate over to sand and get some shells for them to swim in and out of after I'm finally cycled.

You need to do a water change ASAP. Pretty soon all your fish will die if you don't.

There is great articles on the forum about cycling a tank, I would check them out.

Fish less cycle = no water changes, just dosing pure ammonia or putting a raw shrimp in and let the cycle take its course.

Fish in cycle = the fish is your Ammonia source so it is constant and you need to do pwc whenever needed (you need one!!)